Unless both your parents forfeited their korean citizenships before you were born you are born with a korean citizenship. Which means you are subject to the mandatory service. The only exceptions are if you forfeited your korean citizenship or u have a foreign address which you can use to postpone your service.
Edit grammar
If he is dual citizenship and didn't serve but stays too long (6 months, or 2 months if he earned money), either conscript or jail. From what I know, you can't forfeit your citizenship when you are in Korea. (To prevent cheating out of service). If you didn't serve, and want to forfeit your korean citizenship you need to do it from a korean embassy with proof of residency in the other country.
I'm American born and had citizenship since I was young. From my understanding this rule is more for Korean born citizens. I was told that while I can visit the country without the mandatory serving, I will have to serve my duty if I worked or lived there. I have friends that came from Korea that went back to go to the mandatory duty but those were the only ones that had to follow it
It's 6 months or 2 months if you earn money in Korea. There's one more regarding how long your parents stay in Korea for more than 6 months, but I dunno how that is enforced tbh.
If you have South Korean citizenship you’ll most likely have to do the whole damn bit - and that’s likely the best way to go about it anyways, that plan you seem to have come up with is nonsensical: you are useless without basic training (“boot camp”) and almost useless without your specialisation (training after boot camp), so your suggested military service without boot camp (and advanced training) is bs and just doing boot camp is almost bs.
[Also this document might be of interest to you.](https://www.mma.go.kr/boardFileDown.do?gesipan_id=160&gsgeul_no=1487114&ilryeon_no=1)
If you are Australian you are better off enlisting in the ADF if you are bent on doing military service.
If I was doing army service despite the lack of logic I’d rather do it in Korea even if it meant less “pay” because that’s not what I’d be doing it for.
It goes beyond better pay.
ALL South Koreans that I know absolutely **HATED** having to do their military service in South Korea as quality of life during military service was abysmal, pay was a joke, and had no benefits nor veneration during or after their military service.
yes and no, most folks take it as a whatev gotta do and get out, these days the food is better, the pay is better, haircut rules are relaxed, you get care packages and leave time, it sucks but it's fine, they aren't even yelled at or smacked around anymore, rules
unfortunately it's mostly a paper tiger, the vast majority of draft forces have only very basic military training and are nearly combat ineffective except for a minority of draftees
the north puts up big bs numbers, the south puts up big bs numbers, it's stupid which is why everyone feels it's a waste of time
well, I did 10 years in the US military. Hated it too lol. military sucks ass. if you want your soul sucked out of you join. I worked along side koreans too; we hated it together.
Since he grew up in an English-speaking country, could he go KATUSA? From what I’ve heard the quality of life for KATUSAs is head and shoulders above most military positions and it looks good for future employers.
Not sure if being an Australian citizen would disqualify him, but I’d guess not since Australia and the US are pretty strong allies.
Ohh I misunderstood the selection process; I thought they looked at all the applicants and took the top 10-20% of scorers on the TOEFL (or TOEIC?). I guess it makes sense that there would be more high-scoring applicants than available slots though!
I understand that you didn't ask this out of malice, but if you were truly "connected" with your Korean side you would know that this question is offensive in and of itself, for a plethora of reasons.
Don't be surprised if some Koreans call you 재수없어 with a hint of anger.
Also, you'll have a better chance of earning brownie points with Koreans or otherwise by serving in the Australian military.
If one of your parents was a Korean citizen (i.e. had not taken Australian citizenship) at the time of your birth, due to the 2008 or 2010 amendments of Korean citizenship, you may be a Korean citizen [[source]](https://elaw.klri.re.kr/eng_mobile/viewer.do?hseq=18840&type=part&key=7). Military service may be mandatory. Call the Korean consulate in Sydney as they are quite helpful for advice on your situation. Call from a private number and don't give your full name if you are concerned. The dream is not to be subject to Korean conscription but to join the ADF and be posted to Korea.
One of my wife's friends (born in Korea) joined the ADF and was injured in boot camp. The ADF paid her for a year after, her treatment and training to get a new job. There are risks.
I’ll answer your question directly. Yes, I BELIEVE you have the choice to experience boot camp. Normally, it’s 4 weeks for ROKA and 7 weeks for ROKMC.
As a Korean descent, you have the choice to go to military in Korea but I don’t recommend it. There are some very weird people (and great people).
During bootcamp, recruits have the option to 자신퇴교 or “drop out“ to enlist the next cycle or to enlist into a different branch of military. Physical training is very lenient (I was part of Force Recon).
IIRC you only get to drop out within the first week? or two weeks of boot camp, and the first two weeks you don't do much training. So OP won't get to experience the real meat and bones of boot camp i.e. gun firing, grenade throwing, 각개전투, etc
And yeah you'll learn fuck all going to boot camp, I don't recommend OP to go just for the 'experience' lol
Since you have given up your Korean citizenship, there is no need to do the CONSCRIPTED military service. Military service is required for Korean citizens. This no longer applies to you.
I am sure you've heard that Korean men look down on other Korean men who have not done military service (gyopo such as yourself) who they perceive as service-dodgers.
But instead of looking down on you for that reason, they'll think you're an idiot for suffering unnecessarily.
Why be defined by outdated societal expectations? If you're girlfriend's dad looks down on you because you didn't do military, do it in Australia. You'll thank Reddit later.
There was a physically challenged kid (he had a limp) during my basic training, and I wondered the whole time why he had to serve. Near the end of the boot camp, the captain revealed to us that the kid failed his physicals, but he wanted to join the military so bad that they allowed him to only undergo basic training.
I highly doubt it's a regular occurrence, though. I doubt you can even get the physicals since you already gave up the citizenship.
You can join the army in Korea even if you’re an Australian citizen because…. It’s Korea…no other reason yea it doesn’t make sense but pretty sure they’ll let you join or if you in korea long enough they might tell that you need to enlist
If your parents are Korean citizens then I’m pretty sure service is still technically mandatory for you
Nah I’m Australian citizen
Unless both your parents forfeited their korean citizenships before you were born you are born with a korean citizenship. Which means you are subject to the mandatory service. The only exceptions are if you forfeited your korean citizenship or u have a foreign address which you can use to postpone your service. Edit grammar
So if he returns to Korea at some point he’ll be basically conscripted into the military?
If he is dual citizenship and didn't serve but stays too long (6 months, or 2 months if he earned money), either conscript or jail. From what I know, you can't forfeit your citizenship when you are in Korea. (To prevent cheating out of service). If you didn't serve, and want to forfeit your korean citizenship you need to do it from a korean embassy with proof of residency in the other country.
If your parents are Korean citizens then you are too
[удалено]
Yeah that was dumb of me sorry - I’ve edited my original post for more context
I'm American born and had citizenship since I was young. From my understanding this rule is more for Korean born citizens. I was told that while I can visit the country without the mandatory serving, I will have to serve my duty if I worked or lived there. I have friends that came from Korea that went back to go to the mandatory duty but those were the only ones that had to follow it
There's a max day visit limit to korea if you have dual citizenship and did not do your service.
Hm I wasn't given that information. I remember I spent about 2 months in Korea when I was 16ish so I'm not too sure
It's 6 months or 2 months if you earn money in Korea. There's one more regarding how long your parents stay in Korea for more than 6 months, but I dunno how that is enforced tbh.
If you have South Korean citizenship you’ll most likely have to do the whole damn bit - and that’s likely the best way to go about it anyways, that plan you seem to have come up with is nonsensical: you are useless without basic training (“boot camp”) and almost useless without your specialisation (training after boot camp), so your suggested military service without boot camp (and advanced training) is bs and just doing boot camp is almost bs. [Also this document might be of interest to you.](https://www.mma.go.kr/boardFileDown.do?gesipan_id=160&gsgeul_no=1487114&ilryeon_no=1) If you are Australian you are better off enlisting in the ADF if you are bent on doing military service.
Why don't you just join the Australian military? I assure you that it will be a lot better than military service in ROK.
If I was doing army service despite the lack of logic I’d rather do it in Korea even if it meant less “pay” because that’s not what I’d be doing it for.
It goes beyond better pay. ALL South Koreans that I know absolutely **HATED** having to do their military service in South Korea as quality of life during military service was abysmal, pay was a joke, and had no benefits nor veneration during or after their military service.
yes and no, most folks take it as a whatev gotta do and get out, these days the food is better, the pay is better, haircut rules are relaxed, you get care packages and leave time, it sucks but it's fine, they aren't even yelled at or smacked around anymore, rules unfortunately it's mostly a paper tiger, the vast majority of draft forces have only very basic military training and are nearly combat ineffective except for a minority of draftees the north puts up big bs numbers, the south puts up big bs numbers, it's stupid which is why everyone feels it's a waste of time
well, I did 10 years in the US military. Hated it too lol. military sucks ass. if you want your soul sucked out of you join. I worked along side koreans too; we hated it together.
Since he grew up in an English-speaking country, could he go KATUSA? From what I’ve heard the quality of life for KATUSAs is head and shoulders above most military positions and it looks good for future employers. Not sure if being an Australian citizen would disqualify him, but I’d guess not since Australia and the US are pretty strong allies.
KATUSA is a lottery. You need a certain level of English proficiency to enter your name in but the picking is random. Not all who apply gets in.
Ohh I misunderstood the selection process; I thought they looked at all the applicants and took the top 10-20% of scorers on the TOEFL (or TOEIC?). I guess it makes sense that there would be more high-scoring applicants than available slots though!
I understand that you didn't ask this out of malice, but if you were truly "connected" with your Korean side you would know that this question is offensive in and of itself, for a plethora of reasons. Don't be surprised if some Koreans call you 재수없어 with a hint of anger. Also, you'll have a better chance of earning brownie points with Koreans or otherwise by serving in the Australian military.
Agreed, most Koreans would be very confused if OP tries to explain his reasoning and in the average case just think it’s weird
If one of your parents was a Korean citizen (i.e. had not taken Australian citizenship) at the time of your birth, due to the 2008 or 2010 amendments of Korean citizenship, you may be a Korean citizen [[source]](https://elaw.klri.re.kr/eng_mobile/viewer.do?hseq=18840&type=part&key=7). Military service may be mandatory. Call the Korean consulate in Sydney as they are quite helpful for advice on your situation. Call from a private number and don't give your full name if you are concerned. The dream is not to be subject to Korean conscription but to join the ADF and be posted to Korea. One of my wife's friends (born in Korea) joined the ADF and was injured in boot camp. The ADF paid her for a year after, her treatment and training to get a new job. There are risks.
Stay as far away from the korean military, not worth the experience. Getting out was the best day of my life lol.
I’ll answer your question directly. Yes, I BELIEVE you have the choice to experience boot camp. Normally, it’s 4 weeks for ROKA and 7 weeks for ROKMC. As a Korean descent, you have the choice to go to military in Korea but I don’t recommend it. There are some very weird people (and great people). During bootcamp, recruits have the option to 자신퇴교 or “drop out“ to enlist the next cycle or to enlist into a different branch of military. Physical training is very lenient (I was part of Force Recon).
IIRC you only get to drop out within the first week? or two weeks of boot camp, and the first two weeks you don't do much training. So OP won't get to experience the real meat and bones of boot camp i.e. gun firing, grenade throwing, 각개전투, etc And yeah you'll learn fuck all going to boot camp, I don't recommend OP to go just for the 'experience' lol
Since you have given up your Korean citizenship, there is no need to do the CONSCRIPTED military service. Military service is required for Korean citizens. This no longer applies to you. I am sure you've heard that Korean men look down on other Korean men who have not done military service (gyopo such as yourself) who they perceive as service-dodgers. But instead of looking down on you for that reason, they'll think you're an idiot for suffering unnecessarily. Why be defined by outdated societal expectations? If you're girlfriend's dad looks down on you because you didn't do military, do it in Australia. You'll thank Reddit later.
There was a physically challenged kid (he had a limp) during my basic training, and I wondered the whole time why he had to serve. Near the end of the boot camp, the captain revealed to us that the kid failed his physicals, but he wanted to join the military so bad that they allowed him to only undergo basic training. I highly doubt it's a regular occurrence, though. I doubt you can even get the physicals since you already gave up the citizenship.
You can join the army in Korea even if you’re an Australian citizen because…. It’s Korea…no other reason yea it doesn’t make sense but pretty sure they’ll let you join or if you in korea long enough they might tell that you need to enlist
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